


but you lit up my life (this is what it's like to be lovers)

by ryneisaterriblefan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Accidental Confession, Everyone Is Gay, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gen, Keith (Voltron) has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, M/M, Pining, Pining Lance (Voltron), everyone is a mess, im tired please tell me if i need more tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 13:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19830745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryneisaterriblefan/pseuds/ryneisaterriblefan
Summary: They help each other, and they fall in love somewhere along the line.





	but you lit up my life (this is what it's like to be lovers)

**Author's Note:**

> so this is my piece for The Stars Align Klance Zine! Make sure to check out everyone else's works!!!

One of these days, Keith knows he’s going to die because of Lance glaring at him.

Seriously.

_Who the fuck puts in milk before cereal?_

_Keith, that’s who._ Lance is probably thinking something along those lines as he walks out in a bathrobe, ‘Keith. If you don’t change your ways I’m gonna kick you out.’

Keith raises an eyebrow—and Lance sighs. It’s an empty threat, and they both know it.

Grumbling, Lance walks back into their shared bedroom.

_‘Lance,’ a quiet voice says._

_‘Hm?’_

_Keith sits down next to him. ‘Am I welcome?’_

_‘I don’t particularly mind,’ Lance muses, looking up at the stars. At the Garrison headquarters, the stars are still bright as ever._

_Keith sighs. ‘Can I ask something?’_

_Lance turns to look at Keith for the first time that night, and—he half-wishes he hasn’t. Because Keith’s violet eyes glow, and Lance catches a split-second when his eyes adjust and turn Galra._

_It’s strangely captivating. He realizes he’s been staring only after Keith’s expression turns confused and he waves a hand in front of Lance’s face._

_‘Sorry,’ Lance mumbles, looking away. ‘You were saying?’_

_‘Uh,’ Keith hesitates, ‘I was asking, when or if after all this war stuff has ended, do you wanna move in together?’_

_Lance blinks. Shakes his head to properly comprehend what Keith’s saying._

_Keith seems to take that as a no, however, and he turns away, looking dejected. Why, Lance doesn’t know._

_‘No!’ Lance yelps, causing Keith to look at him again, ‘I—I mean, yes!’_

_‘What?’ Keith looks adorably confused now, and Lance wants to slap himself. For obvious reasons._

_‘Yeah,’ Lance grumbles, ‘I can room with you. Don’t make me say it again.’_

_‘Well, you’re gonna have to say it again, sharpshooter,’ Keith teases—oh, and if that isn’t Lance’s heart trying to thud out of his chest—and says, ‘’cause people need proof that you’re not gonna murder me in my sleep.’_

_‘Hmph.’_

_‘Whatever you say, princess.’_

_Lance chokes, ‘What.’_

_‘It fits,’ Keith says, smirking, and, oh god, just end him already._

_Lance rolls his eyes. He doesn’t press more._

_(If they fall asleep on each other, no one’s around to see it.)_

‘Bye, Lance.’

‘Seeya, Keithy boy.’

The door clicks shut, and Lance settles into his office chair, which squeaks loudly. Being protectors of the universe doesn’t exactly pay well, so Keith’s a florist (surprisingly) and Lance works as a part-time author and part-time cashier at a cute café near his house.

Shiro has a job teaching people self-defense and martial arts classes, and Hunk has an amazing restaurant. Pidge, as expected, is a scientist.

Lance yawns, continuing his latest project—a story about a boy discovering himself. It’s cliché, and surprisingly books sell well considering most of the planet’s been wiped out and more people need necessary things rather than novels and books, but he can’t say it’s a bad thing.

_Lance is the one to find Keith this time—though he has to squint a little to see Keith sitting on his lion’s muzzle._

_‘Keith,’ Lance mumbles, then, ‘Keith?’ just enough so that the other can hear him._

_Keith says something Lance can’t hear, and then Black moves so that Lance can clamber onto his muzzle with the least grace possible._

_‘Hey,’ Keith says as they’re lifted from the ground again, ‘What’s up?’_

_‘Couldn’t sleep,’ Lance says, moving to lie on his back._

_‘Nightmare?’ Keith asks softly._

_Lance nods. ‘It’s nothing mostly. I don’t see anything but the feelings—the feelings come back to me and they’re terrible.’_

_Keith doesn’t say anything, but Lance knows he understands. They’ve gone through the same things, after all._

_They stay there, quiet, until, ‘That’s Libra.’_

_Lance snaps his half-closed eyes open, looking wildly to the side to see Keith smiling at him. He rolls his eyes, but can’t quite help the small grin that’s reaching for his lips._

_‘Wha—‘_

_‘Libra. Your star sign.’ Keith’s finger moves, and Lance’s eyes move as well. ‘That’s me—‘_

_‘Gemini,’ Lance interrupts, way too quickly, but it’s worth it to see the surprise in Keith’s eyes. ‘I do know about my teammates, you know.’_

_‘I never told anyone my birthday,’ Keith murmurs._

_‘Oh, Shiro told me.’_

_This time, Keith looks completely betrayed and god if that isn’t the cutest thing Lance has ever seen—and he needs to stop. He chastises himself for being like this._

_‘I’m gonna kill him.’_

_‘No don’t,’ Lance giggles, half-laughing, ‘Tell me something about him then.’_

_Keith considers for a moment. ‘He was born of the twenty-ninth of February. He’s seven years old.’_

_Lance gapes. And chortles. He laughs so hard he chokes on his own spit and end up a wheezing mess, but the only thing he can get out is, ‘Oh god we’ve been taking orders from a six-year-old.’_

_And Keith stares at him incredulously for a second, and then he’s laughing as well, holding his sides and large chunks of laughter coming out—it’s surprisingly bubbly, Lance thinks._

_He doesn’t know when he stops laughing and just stares at Keith, but Keith looks at him—and for once, Lance doesn’t turn away. And Keith doesn’t either._

_(And if a birthday cake with eight candles turn up on Shiro’s desk a few weeks later, no one has to know who did it.)_

Lance goes about his day, leaving the house at two and starting his shift. Their house is conveniently close to most of the stores, but it’s not very loud either—trust Keith to find a spot that’s conventional and quiet at the same time, Lance thinks fondly.

Though the café is—annoyingly—Voltron-themed, Lance thanks the gods that the customers are all mostly nice and don’t bother him that much. His sister works there too, so it’s infinitely more fun for him.

‘Afternoon, what can I get ya?’ Lance says to the customer, not looking up from the cash register.

‘Can I have a latte?’ a familiar voice says, and Lance looks up just in time for Keith to say, ‘’Cause I like you a latte.’

Lance starts, and stares incredulously—it’s only when Keith’s mouth quirks up into a smile that Lance’s brain starts to function and he splutters out some incomprehensible nonsense about how Keith should stop scaring him and god—that was the shittiest line he’s ever heard—

‘That’s a win for me,’ Keith says smoothly, grinning down at Lance. Has he mentioned he hates Keith’s growth spurt?

‘Fine whatever,’ Lance grumbles, and shouts out for Veronica to make Keith a latte with less milk. He isn’t Keith’s roommate for nothing, after all.

When he gets the drink, Lance hands it over and says, ‘I’ll pay. ‘Cause I like you a latte.’

Keith snorts. ‘Lance that was barely even original.’

Lance whines, ‘Come on! It rhymed!’ to Keith’s retreating back.

He only gets a ‘whatever you say, princess’ before the door closes.

‘Are you sure you’re not dating?’

Veronica’s voice startles Lance out of his thoughts, and he splutters, ‘No! Why would you even think that! The very idea is preposterous—‘

‘Hmm,’ Veronica interrupts him, smilling slyly, ‘If that’s the case, do you mind if I asked him out? He looks pretty hot—‘

‘No!’ Lance shrieks, ‘No you can’t!’

‘Why not?’

‘Because—because,’ Lance hates his sister he’s going to murder her someday why is she so frustrating,

‘I hate you.’

She pats his head and laughs, ‘Are you sure, little brother?’

‘Yes,’ Lance grumbles, ‘You know I like him, okay? Now shut up.’

He only gets a headpat in return.

‘Oh my god Shiro I am going to die.’ Keith not-dramatically throws himself onto Shiro’s couch. He not-dramatically sniffles and screams.

‘What is it this time,’ Shiro sighs, not looking away from the game he’s playing on his phone.

_Of course he likes that game,_ Keith thinks, lips pursed up in a frown, _Pidge hacked it for him so he’d have infinite diamonds._

‘Lance.’

‘As it always is.’

‘Come on Shiro!’ Keith whines, ‘He just! He blushed so—so prettily when I used a pick-up line on him!’

‘Doesn’t he always?’ Shiro ponders.

‘Yes! Because! He! Is! Surprised!’ Keith helf-yells, ‘If he gets used to it he’ll start flirting back and I—my heart can’t take it.’

‘So you admit you’ve been flirting with him?’

‘Fuck you.’

‘That’s incest.’

‘I hate you.’

‘A bouquet of roses ready for you,’ Keith smiles at his customer, a small girl who says the roses are for his mother. It’s Mother’s Day, Keith thinks, maybe he should get something for Hunk.

‘Thank you!’ she chirps, handing over the money, ‘These look absolutely gorgeous, did you grow them?’

‘Yeah,’ Keith says awkwardly, ‘My house has a garden and plants calm me down, so…’

He trails off, not knowing how to continue, but the girl praises him once more and then she skips out of the store. His coworker, a cute boy about eighteen, praises him jokingly about his improving customer services.

‘Thanks,’ Keith bites out sarcastically.

‘No problem,’ Kieran tells him, ‘And glad to be of service.’

Keith rolls his eyes and walks off to take care of the plants.

‘So how’s things with Loverboy?’

Keith groans. One time Lance had come to the store, flirted with Keith, and now Kieran thinks that they’re dating. (Not that Keith wishes they aren’t, but. Y’know. Reality is a thing.)

After that Keith had been forced to expel all his angst to Kieran who, despite being straight, understood the pains of having a crush on someone who constantly flirts with them.

Keith privately thinks that Kieran’s crush probably likes him too, but he’s in no position to say anything about it, so he keeps quiet.

‘Everything’s fine,’ Keith tells him, speaking louder so his voice carries over rows of flowers, ‘He still judges me for putting in milk before cereal.’

‘Dude, _I_ judge you for that.’

‘Yeah but I don’t care about you.’

He gets a strangled gasp in response—and he smiles. Life isn’t anywhere near perfect, but he thinks it’s pretty damn amazing right now.

_There’s a time Keith and Lance slept on the same beds—it was logical, they both had night terrors and it helped that someone they trusted would be near them._

_But even that doesn’t help sometimes, when Lance wakes up sweating and panting and out of breath, Allura flashing before his eyes and she glares at him cruelly._ It’s all your fault, _her eyes say,_ it’s all your fault I’m not alive.

_And Lance writhes, screams and wakes up to Keith shaking him and holding him close—whispering reassurances that everything’s alright, nothing happened, Lance, look at me and breathe._

_And Lance does—he looks at Keith, with his markings and violet eyes and soft hair, and he cries, he holds Keith close and cries into his neck without any restraint, blubbering and shaking and Keith holds him throughout it all, holds him and keeps him safe and warm until Lance is tired out and is ready to back to sleep again._

_‘Hold me,’ he’ll say sometimes, words slurred and voice cracking, ‘I don’t wanna be scared.’_

_And Keith always does._

Keith hangs out with Hunk on Saturday afternoons, usually going to a bakery of just walking around is either of them feel restless.

‘So, how’s everything?’ Hunk says conversationally through his mouthful of ice cream. ‘any development?’

‘No,’ Keith groans into his arms, ‘He’s just so cute and I want to die—‘

‘Hey buddy,’ Hunk interrupts him, shoving a spoon of ice cream into Keith’s face, ‘Eat this and stop being depressed. It’s a work in progress, but I assure you you can win Lance’s heart over.’

‘I can’t even bake or cook like you,’ Keith mumbles, dutifully eating the ice cream, ‘And Pidge is smart and Shiro is heroic and—‘

‘Keith,’ Hunk points at him accusingly with his spoon, ‘He spent all of our space history lessons gushing about how cool and how much of an asshole you were.’

‘That’s worse, but okay.’

‘Look, the point is, just talk to him about it,’ Hunk tells him, ‘I love Lance, but unless you tell him you love him he’s gonna ignore everything. Even then there’s a ten percent chance he thinks he’s heard wrong and laugh it off.’

‘Thanks, you’re helping so much.’

‘Happy to help.’

_Keith also has his fair share of nightmares—and Lance tries to help. He really does, but he never knows if he’s doing the right thing. Often, Keith mumbles—broken names and mumbled words—and tosses and turns, volatile with every touch, but he always smiles in the morning and thanks Lance for taking care of him. Lance never knows if he actually does._

_Lance gets better, over time. He learns to handle Keith with equal parts care and firmness, shaking him awake when the nightmares get too unbearable, otherwise just holding him until he stops shaking and calms down and goes into full sleep again._

_It’s heartbreaking to watch him, yelling sometimes, and Lance never wants Keith—or any one of them—to ever experience the pain ever again._

_And when Keith hugs him in his sleep and Lance cuddles back, it’s not the worst feeling in the world._

‘KEITH! WHERE’S MY SHAMPOO!’

‘I think I threw it away.’

‘WHY?!’

‘It was empty,’ Keith frowns, ‘Do you want me to go get one for you?’

‘No!’ Lance shrill yell cuts through the air, ‘I’ll just—I’ll just go get it myself, okay!’

‘Lance,’ Keith stands up, blocking the door, ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing,’ Lance spits out, trying to push past Keith, ‘Just let me go!’

‘Not until you tell me what’s bothering you,’ Keith tells him firmly, taking Lance and holding him by the shoulders.

‘It’s nothing,’ Lance repeats, looking away, ‘Nothing.’

‘Come on. Tell me.’

Keith feels the moment Lance gives in, when his shoulders go slack—now isn’t the time to think about Lance’s broad shoulders, but there Keith’s mind goes—and he leans forward a bit so that Keith can catch him and give him a proper hug.

Keith rubs Lance’s back until he’s calm, hugging him tight and letting him know there’s someone he can talk to if he needs to. Keith almost feels guilty that Lance almost always comes to him when he needs to talk.

‘There was a really homophobic customer at work today,’ Lance finally says, voice small.

‘Oh,’ Keith says, hugs Lance tighter, ‘There there. Fuck him. Not literally.’

Lance barks out a watery laugh.

‘He doesn’t matter, okay?’ Keith reassures him softly, ‘You’re valid wherever and whoever you are.’

A wet sniffle. ‘Thanks, buddy.’

‘No problem,’ Keith tells him, wiping his few tears away, ‘You can do something while I’m gone, okay? I know what you use, and I’ll be right back.’

‘Thanks.’

‘No problem,’ Keith repeats, and pretends his heart isn’t palpitating out of his chest.

It happens one day, very abruptly, very out-of-the-blue, and it takes Keith the entire walk to the flower shop until he realizes—

_‘I’m gonna be late—‘_

_‘Bye, Keith!’_

_‘Bye, love you!’_

_‘Love you too!’ Lance’s answering shout follows him out the door._

Woah, he just confessed. And ran away immediately after. _Wow, real impressive, Keith_.

_I was late! I didn’t mean to!_

_But you still did it,_ his inner voice mocks him, which sounds disturbingly like Shiro.

‘Dude, you okay?’

‘What?’

‘You’ve been making these weird facial expressions for like two minutes now. As much as I’d love to watch, it’s getting weird,’ Kieran teases.

‘Holy shit,’ Keith says, ‘Can you cover for me?’

And, he doesn’t really know how, but the desperation must really shine through him, because Kieran nods and turns away.

And then he runs—Keith runs right back to their house, with burning legs and hair slipping out from its loose ponytail and—a heart bursting with love.

‘LANCE!’

‘Holy shit Keith,’ Lance startles, whipping his neck around so fast Keith winces in sympathy. ‘Did you forget—‘

‘Do you love me,’ Keith demands, eyes blazing.

Lance looks more than a little bit scared, but he says, ‘What—‘

‘You said it before I left,’ Keith states, voice forceful, ‘You said you loved me.’

‘I—‘ Lance flounders, ‘You said it first!’

‘Oh my god Lance,’ Keith groans, ‘Just—‘

Cutting himself off, Keith stomps over, pulls Lance up by his shirt, and kisses him.

It’s not perfect. It’s not perfect—it’s messy and uncoordinated and awkward, but it’s perfect and it’s _Lance_ and Keith thinks he crumples on top of Lance after a few seconds, but he doesn’t care because, honestly, he’s been waiting for this for a long time.

(‘Say it again.’

‘I love you.’

A giggle. ‘Love you too.’

‘Dork.’

‘Nerd.’

‘I love you.’)

**Author's Note:**

> constructive criticism is welcome lmao please point out anything lacking like seiouslt im so tired


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